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“During Girlsday, girls discover that IT is more than just programming ”

Amstelveen, 14 April 2016

Atos takes over 27 girls on a tour through its headquarters in Amstelveen

Over 27 girls visited the Atos headquarters today in Amstelveen to experience that IT is more than just programming. During a varied and instructive afternoon, they were able to take a look in the world of IT. Reason for their visit was Girlsday, an annual European initiative that aims to motivate young girls to choose an education or profession in technology or IT.

In all parts of the Netherlands numerous activities were organized in order to make girls of 10 - 15 years old familiar with exact sciences, technology and IT. At the Atos office it was ‘Girls Only' day as well. During an interesting presentation the girls - from the schools Hervormd Lyceum Zuid and Hervormd Lyceum West in Amsterdam - learned all about the ins and outs of working in the IT business. Another topic that was highlighted, was the role of Atos as IT partner of the Olympic Games. The IT services provider is responsible for a seamless operation of this international sports event. After the presentations the girls could get started themselves in the Atos Techlab accompanied by several Atos technical experts.

An inspiring and challenging profession

The girls were able to take a look behind the scenes of Atos, such as in the renewed Business Technology Innovation Centre and the Store of the Future, where they experienced how it feels to be in a digital shopping environment. They also walked into the world of virtual reality and explored the office wearing VR glasses. And of course, they had a short encounter with the cute Nao robots from Atos which enabled them to discover in a playful way what robotization can mean for society and the clients of Atos.

“In this digital age, technology and IT are a catalyst for change on a social, economic and business level. Digital is all about communicating with people and clients. In order to be effective, you need to be able to understand a very diverse group of customers. This is the reason why diversity is a huge enabler of the industry that accelerates innovation, added value and productivity. Today, we wanted to show that IT is not boring at all, but an inspiring and challenging profession,” states Marianne Hewlett, Chief Marketing Officer of Atos in the Benelux & The Nordics.“According to the enthusiastic reactions, we have succeeded to convince the girls and who knows, we will meet some of them again as young female talent in the world of IT”.

Marianne Hewlett concludes: “We have a national shortage of women in the IT sector. A third of over 100 graduates that we hire every year is female. At the end of 2014 the percentage of women working at Atos in the Netherlands was over 13 per cent and our target is 30 per cent in 2020. This is a priority for us, because a better balance between men and women, also on a management level, will ultimately result in a better business performance. For this reason, we will also sign the National Diversity Charter today.”

Incentives

Atos encourages female students that are about to graduate to consider a career in the IT industry. The company organizes several events each year to introduce young female IT professionals with the organization and the IT market. Atos hires more than 100 graduates every year of which around a third are female. Recently, a group of new female employees was invited to develop ideas to motivate more young women for a career at Atos. The program ‘Wellbeing@Work' within the Atos Group aims to create an inspiring working environment and good working conditions that fully appreciate and stimulate the qualities of employees, including women.

About Atos

Atos SE (Societas Europaea) is a leader in digital services with pro forma annual revenue of circa € 12 billion and circa 100,000 employees in 72 countries. Serving a global client base, the Group provides Consulting & Systems Integration services, Managed Services & BPO, Cloud operations, Big Data & Cyber-security solutions, as well as transactional services through Worldline, the European leader in the payments and transactional services industry. With its deep technology expertise and industry knowledge, the Group works with clients across different business sectors: Defense, Financial Services, Health, Manufacturing, Media, Utilities, Public sector, Retail, Telecommunications, and Transportation.

Atos is focused on business technology that powers progress and helps organizations to create their firm of the future. The Group is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic & Paralympic Games and is listed on the Euronext Paris market. Atos operates under the brands Atos, Atos Consulting, Atos Worldgrid, Bull, Canopy, Unify and Worldline.

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